6. Roberts Rules: When Roberts re-signed with the Penguins, it was an important endorsement for the franchise. Every other team would gladly take Roberts, who offers an enticing blend of fury and finesse. His competitiveness is molten, and he wants badly to win the second Cup that has eluded him since 1989. The unrestricted free agent had indicated a desire to go home to Ontario, but he chose the Penguins. Consider that a vote of confidence for this team's championship potential.

Those line combinations are very close to my opening-camp predictions. I had christensen where malone is on the second line, talbot centering the third, and brent centering the 4th, but the other nine were the same.

jason, I don't know, that kinda surprised me too. I thought EC was doing pretty good on Geno's wing. Good enough to have a chance to start the year there, certainly.

Therrien changes lines more often than an aggressive driver changes lanes on the interstate. Certain things are set in stone (that #87 fellow will probably be the first line center), but otherwise I'm not that concerned. By Friday for all we know, Malone could be centering the 4th line, Staal's back to center and Mark Eaton's playing in goal. Who the hell knows.

loser chris, nope there's only 22 on the roster right now...those 18 listed in this post, plus hall and nasreddine. and the two goalies.

mario's 42 years old on friday. and he has a heart condition. i think the big guy knows his time is passed and it's time for a new generation, obviously lead by crosby, to pick up the banner and carry it for a while. as hard as it is to say, he's done for good.

That New Jersey "new jersey" - good God. That looks like it came from the same desk of the guy who thought Oregon's football jerseys were a great idea (and that might have been Phil Knight at Nike...I don't care...it's stupid).***

Ash...I never got to enjoy watching Lemieux in his prime because I still had yet to move to Pittsburgh when he was in his prime. But I'm glad I got to see him for a couple of years before his first retirement. And when he came back in 2000-01, he was so much better than anyone else in the league, it wasn't even funny. So I'm glad I got to see him at that level.

But I think a lot of Pens fans will agree...Mario was a shell of himself after the lockout, and after the 2005-06 season, it became very clear that it was time to close that chapter of Penguins hockey. While the torch had been passed at the end of the 05-06 season, Mario's chapter on the Pens closed very fittingly on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 when he announced to the Mellon Arena crowd that night that the arena deal was done and the Pens would stay here. It was a perfect way to close out his legacy.